Vapour sorption and permeation behaviour of supported ionic liquid membranes: Application for organic solvent/water separation

The supported ionic liquid membranes (SILMs) were prepared by impregnation of the porous poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) membrane with the synthesized ILs. The sorption capacity of PVDF was found to increase after its swelling in IL. An experimental evaluation of the SILMs permeability was carried out for water, ethanol and cyclohexane. The effect of operation parameters such as temperature and concentration of the permeant was studied. It was observed that the presence of the IL strongly influenced the permeability performance of the membrane by reducing the pore sizes and changing the hydrophobic/hydrophilic balance. It is found from the permeation kinetics curves that the SILMs have high potential for separation of organic solvent/water mixtures.